Cooling systems typically circulate a cooling medium to provide heat dissipation for a variety of industrial systems. These cooling systems may include a pump driven by a motor and a controller for regulating one or more operational aspects of the motor. Typically, the controller includes a plurality of wires to provide power and communication between the pump, motor, and controller. This plurality of wires may increase the complexity and cost of the cooling system and decrease cooling system reliability. In addition, the spatial requirements of a cooling system having separate motor, pump, and controller units may decrease design flexibility.
One attempt to design a simpler, more compact cooling system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,702,555 (“the '555 patent”), issued to Allen et al. on Mar. 9, 2004. The '555 patent describes a fluid pump, an electric motor, and a circuit board disposed within a common housing. Power and communication signals are provided to the motor through stud terminals located on the housing of the fluid pump. This integrated approach of including a motor, pump, and electric circuitry into a common housing creates a compact arrangement, and the stud terminals may simplify external wiring.
Although the system of the '555 patent may be compact and externally simple, it may still be internally complex, expensive, and lack reliability. For example, the circuit board may still use multiple wires to interconnect the motor, pump, and controller. These multiple wires may increase cost and decrease reliability of the cooling system. Furthermore, the system of the '555 patent may use one or more stud terminals for providing multiple connections through the fluid pump housing wall to supply power and communication to the motor. These multiple connections may increase the likelihood of leakage of fluid through the pump housing wall.
The presently disclosed electric motor control system and method are directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.